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“It's not that weird,” Rhett said, shrugging as he set his suitcase on the folding luggage rack. “We’ve done it before. Hell, we've shared tents with less floor space.”
Link eyed the single king-size bed in their shared hotel room suspiciously. “That's different. We had sleeping bags. You know, personal little sleep pods?”
“Yeah, and remember that one trip where it got so cold that we zipped them together?”
“Dude, you promised never to mention that.”
“You stuck your ice-cold nose in the back of my neck!”
“I didn't want to get frostbite!”
“Well, there’s no chance of that happening tonight.” Rhett sighed and turned around, leaning back against the closet door frame with his arms crossed loosely over his chest. “Look, it’s just two nights, man. We get some sleep tonight, shoot the rest of the footage super early tomorrow morning, come back, shoot our bits and edit the commercial together in the afternoon, do the reveal the next day, and then we’re out. Hell, I betcha we’ll be so tired by the time we get done tomorrow that we won’t even care where we fall asleep so long as it’s horizontal.”
Link made a non-committal grumpy noise that Rhett recognized as himself winning the argument for the time being. It wasn’t that Rhett was excited at the idea of having to share a bed for two nights. But booking mixups and a wedding party taking up most of the rooms meant that there weren’t a lot of options unless they wanted to spend the rest of the day searching for another hotel within twenty miles of this tiny Tennessee town rather than working on the actual commercial they were shooting. The company this time was TCT Recovery, and part of the plan was going out on a ride-along to film the proprietor, Walter, repossessing a vehicle. They needed to be nearby enough to meet him and start heading out on the road well before dawn.
“Come on, man. Stash the suitcase and the laptop, and let’s go find something to eat. I saw a barbecue place down the street.”
Link perked up a little at the mention of food, and he managed to shoot a grin at Rhett while still rolling his eyes. “Barbecue, huh? You want that to be your last meal?”
“Last meal?”
“We’re going out at four o’clock in the dang morning to repo someone’s car under the cover of darkness. The chance of getting shot is non-zero.”
“That’s...not a bad point, actually. Think Walter has a bullet-proof vest?”
“Prob’ly, but we don’t.”
“I’ve got a windbreaker.”
That drew a real laugh from Link. “Don’t think that’s gonna help you much, brother.” He set his small suitcase out on top of the dresser, and arranged the laptop case next to the desk in the corner. “Okay, let’s go eat. Maybe after, we can see if anyone in town sells Kevlar.”
They got back to the hotel in the early evening, after a good supper and a walk around town to shoot some potential intro scenes for the I Love Local Commercials episode. The next couple hours were devoted to reviewing the footage from the morning’s shoot and putting together a storyboard they could build on when editing everything together the next day. They started with Link at the desk with the computer and Rhett lounging on the bed behind him, but eventually they ended up side by side on the bed, Rhett with his back against the headboard and his long legs stretched out in front of him on top of the blankets, and Link sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with him, cross-legged with the laptop propped on his knees.
At some point Rhett noticed that Link’s knee was pressed against his leg, and their arms brushed each other whenever one of them moved. He made no comment but he figured that Link was getting over his initial squeamishness about sharing a bed. They’d done it a few times before out of necessity or convenience, but every time, Link would get uncomfortable and Rhett would have to convince him over again that it wasn’t a big deal. Which, it wasn’t. Sometimes it was annoying, sure, being woken in the middle of the night by an elbow to the gut or a knee in the thigh because Link was incapable of staying still while he slept. But privately, Rhett found it sort of...nice. Comforting. He never said as much, of course, but there were worse things.
Rhett was leaning over to gesture at something on the screen when he noticed the glowing numbers on the alarm clock on the other side of Link. “It’s nearly ten. We should at least try to get a few hours’ sleep.”
Link nodded, yawning. “Yeah, okay. I’m gonna go brush my teeth and stuff. You need the bathroom before I go?”
“Nah, man, go for it. I’m just gonna get changed out here.”
Link put the laptop away and gathered his toiletry kit from his suitcase. Rhett waited until he heard the bathroom door shut before he stripped out of his jeans, trading them for a pair of lounge pants. He left his t-shirt on--it was just common courtesy not to hop into bed shirtless with his best friend.
Link emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, similarly dressed in his t-shirt and boxers, with his jeans crumpled up under his arm.
“Didn’t think to pack my pajama pants,” he said, blushing and avoiding Rhett's eyes as he folded his pants and placed them neatly on top of his suitcase. “But I’d rather not sleep in my jeans. I mean, if that’s okay…”
“It’s fine,” Rhett said, waving one hand dismissively, refusing to acknowledge the tiny pang of something in his belly at his friend’s state of undress. He grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste from his suitcase and went to get ready for bed.
When he emerged from the bathroom he found Link already asleep, curled up under the covers on his own side of the bed facing away from where Rhett would be sleeping. His dark hair was tousled and flopped over his forehead, nearly touching the soft lace of his eyelashes, and Rhett could hear his slow, even breathing through his slightly open mouth. He seemed peaceful and relaxed, Rhett thought as he went around turning off lights. Smiling to himself, he decided he could be forgiven for thinking that Link looked kinda sweet when he was sleeping. At least, as long as he never mentioned it to anyone.
Rhett checked his phone to make sure that he had an alarm set to wake them up in a few hours. Then he pulled back his side of the blankets and crawled in, rearranging the pillows to make himself comfortable and settling into his “sleeping next to Link” posture: flat on his back, legs straight out, hands clasped together on his chest. Closing his eyes, he drifted off listening to the slow rise and fall of his friend’s breath mingling with his own.
When he woke to the alarm, Rhett found that he could not move his right arm. Not because it was asleep or because he was laying on it, but because it was trapped under Link, who was laying half on top of Rhett with his face buried in his taller friend’s shoulder. Link made a sound something like a grumble or a moan, which Rhett interpreted as, “I cannot use words yet, but please make that horrible noise stop.”
Rhett fumbled for his phone with his left hand and managed to turn the alarm off, then reached for the lamp next to the bed to switch it on. Link flinched away from the light, burying his face even tighter into Rhett’s shoulder with another whiny grumble. For a moment, Rhett considered the ramifications of letting him sleep just a little longer. He almost convinced himself that the urge had nothing to do with how nice it was to have a warm Link-blanket settled on top of him. Of course not. He just wanted a little extra rest, was all.
“Hey,” Rhett said, trying to keep his voice quiet. “Wake up, man. We gotta go steal ourselves a car.”
“Nuh,” Link mumbled, grabbing tight to Rhett’s shirt with one hand.
“Get off, buddyroll,” Rhett said, nudging him in the ribs with his trapped elbow. “Walter’s waitin’ on us.”
Link seemed to stir into full wakefulness at that. He opened his eyes and instantly jerked back as if startled, releasing his hold on Rhett’s shirt and running a hand over his own face.
“Crap,” he mumbled, his voice still rough and fuzzy with sleep. “Sorry, Rhett. Didn’t mean to get all up in your space.”
“S’okay,” Rhett said, sitting up and turning to put his feet on the floor. “Didn’t wake me up this time, at least.”
Rhett got out of bed first and started gathering his clothes while Link sat on the edge of the mattress, scrubbing at his face with both hands and yawning.
“I think I’m gonna grab a real quick shower before we go,” Rhett said. “You gonna be awake when I get back out here?”
“Maybe,” Link responded, rubbing at his eyes.
“Want me to start some coffee first?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Rhett grabbed the carafe from the small in-room coffee maker and filled it in the bathroom sink, then returned to the bedroom and set the coffee up to brew.
“It’ll be a couple minutes,” he said, glancing over at Link, who was still sitting on the bed, head down and eyes only halfway open. “Try not to fall asleep before then.”
“‘Kay,” Link responded. Rhett chuckled. One word answers were apparently all Link could summon on four hours of sleep. He shook his head at his tired friend and retreated to the bathroom to try and wake himself up with a shower.
When Rhett emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed with his hair still damp but styled up like usual, Link seemed far more awake. He was sitting in almost the same place, but he was dressed in jeans and a fresh t-shirt, and halfway through a paper cup of coffee. His hair was combed and his glasses were once again perched on his face.
“Feeling better?” Rhett asked.
“Yup,” Link said, his usual cheer sneaking back into his voice. “Thanks for the coffee, brother.”
“No problem. Did you leave some for me?”
“Of course,” Link said, gesturing at the half-full pot. “Go for it.”
Rhett poured himself a cup, added a packet of sugar, and sat down in the desk chair to drink it.
“Too bad we’re too early for continental breakfast,” Link said.
“You mean we’re going to miss out on stale donuts and cold cereal? Darn.”
“Ain’t nothing wrong with cold cereal, brother,” Link responded with a grin. “Maybe it’ll still be on when we get back.”
“Nuh-uh. Assuming we don’t get ourselves shot, we’re finding a Waffle House after this.” Rhett grinned. “I need me a real man’s breakfast.”
Link rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay ‘real man’, whatever.” He finished his cup in two quick gulps and stood up. “I gotta pee, then we can leave.”
Rhett grunted his acknowledgement and hurried to finish his coffee.
It was well after ten in the morning by the time they returned to the hotel, full of pancakes, bacon, and even more coffee from a well-earned diner breakfast (not the Waffle House Rhett was looking for, but decent nonetheless). Judging by the newly made bed and fresh towels, housekeeping had already been through. Link stumbled through the door first, making a beeline straight for the bed. He flopped down on his side of the mattress, face-first, his still-sneakered feet hanging off the edge.
“‘M gonna sleep for a week,” he mumbled into the pillow.
“We’ve still gotta put this together,” Rhett said as he walked in behind him, yawning but otherwise still awake.
“I’m too tired to think straight,” Link said, turning his head to the side far enough to not be completely garbled.
Rhett understood that. It had been a crazy morning. Walter’s “client” had been less than pleased with the attempt to repossess his vehicle and things had almost gotten violent before the police showed up. After the adrenaline of nearly getting punched by a big angry guy faded, he was pretty drained himself. But there was so much to do, and not a lot of time to do it in. “Okay,” he said, grabbing the laptop bag and the camera’s memory card. “You nap for awhile. I’m gonna start working on this.”
“Gonna make me feel guilty,” Link sighed, moving to sit back up. Rhett waved him off with one hand.
“Seriously,” Rhett said. “Sleep. I’ll piece some stuff together, then you can take over later. It’ll be a good starting point.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.”
“Okay,” Link said as he laid back down, kicking his shoes off. “Don’t let me sleep too long, though. We still need to get out and get some intro/outro shots this afternoon.”
“I’ll wake you up in an hour or two, promise.”
An hour and a half later, Rhett was deep into editing mode. He had his headphones on, the big noise-cancelling ones that they used when they were cleaning up audio, so he wasn’t sure how long Link had been talking in his sleep. But when he heard a strangled shout from behind him, he jumped, yanking the headphones off as he whipped around.
Link was still asleep, but he was yelling into the pillow, clawing at it. Rhett couldn’t make out much, but it was obvious from his panting and panicked movements that his friend was in the middle of a nightmare. He set the headphones and laptop aside and got up, crossing the room to where Link slept. He crouched down at the side of the bed, careful to leave some distance in case Link woke up swinging, and reached out to shake his arm.
“Link, buddy, wake up.”
Link was mumbling now, still asleep. Rhett wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard his own name.
“Link,” he tried again. “You’re having a bad dream. You gotta wake up, man.”
The dark-haired man was starting to stir, turning his face towards his friend, and Rhett could make out what he was saying now, a string of “no no no, Rhett, no...” To his surprise, he saw that Link’s eyelashes and pillow were wet. He was crying. Something rose in Rhett's chest then, tightness and an urge to gather the smaller man in his arms and stroke his back until whatever monsters he was fighting faded away into the ether.
Ignoring the feeling, Rhett grabbed his shoulder firmly and shook him harder. “Link! Wake up!”
Link’s eyes popped open and he took a deep, shuddering breath. “What the… Rhett…?” He focused on his tall friend’s face, and instantly his body relaxed, sagging back against the mattress. “Oh. Hey.”
“Bad dream, huh?” Rhett asked. He realized he still had his hand on Link’s shoulder and drew back, still crouching so he could stay nearly eye-level with his friend.
Link wiped at his eyes and nodded. “Blame Walter.”
“What?”
“Remember? He was all ‘Hope you guys don’t have nightmares’ while we were driving back this morning.” Link’s spot-on impression of the man they’d been working with for the past two days make Rhett smirk.
“Heh, yeah,” Rhett said. “You were yelling in your sleep. What was that about?”
“I dreamed that big guy shot you. You were bleeding, and I was trying to stop it. Man, I thought you were dying.” Link swallowed hard. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the pillow.
“Well, I’m alive,” Rhett responded. “And not shot.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Link muttered, eyes still closed.
Rhett stood up and nudged Link’s legs over so he could sit at the foot of the bed. Link shifted, sitting up a little bit to give him space.
“You alright?”
“Gimme a minute,” Link grumbled, squinting at Rhett in the sunlight streaming in through the gap in the curtains. “I’ve just been traumatized by my own subconscious.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Rhett said with a soft laugh, patting Link’s jeans-clad leg.
“Don’t laugh at me, man! You can’t tell me it wasn’t kinda scary this morning.” Link pushed himself up to sit against the headboard and pulled his legs up to his chest, out of Rhett’s reach, pouting. Rhett knew Link’s sorrowful look was mostly for effect, but he still felt a little bad for laughing. Link looked small and fragile, curled up like that, and it stirred the same protective feeling in Rhett’s chest that he’d had that morning when they were both huddled in the cab of the wrecker, talking to the camera and waiting for Walter to finish hashing things out with the police and the folks who owned the cars.
“No, it was scary,” Rhett said, in an attempt to placate him. “I told’ya I thought I was about to piss myself when the big guy came at me. But hey, we made it out just fine!”
“I just keep thinkin’. Like, what if he’d had a weapon? It was a dumb thing to do, us two idiots with cameras going along to repo some guy’s truck in the dark. Who the hell’s idea was that?”
“Yours and Walter’s, if I remember right.”
“Dammit. What was I thinkin?!” Link whined to himself, resting his forehead on his arms where they were crossed over his knees. Eventually, he looked up at Rhett. “Did we at least get good footage?”
“Oh yeah,” Rhett grinned. “You wanna come see what I’ve got so far?”
“Yeah, okay,” Link said, uncurling himself and moving to the edge of the bed. Rhett stood up first, and helped Link to his feet.
They spent the next hour or so reviewing Rhett’s work and throwing ideas around. Rhett eventually decided that he needed a rest too, so he laid down while Link worked. He was a light sleeper, but he’d napped many times before to the sound of Link’s typing and mouse-clicking, so it wasn’t too hard for him to doze off for a little while.
A little after three in the afternoon, he woke to a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. When he opened his eyes, Link’s face took up his entire field of vision. He jumped back, yelping.
Link laughed and let go of his arm. “Sorry man. But you need to wake up. I wanna get some more footage in town before we lose the light.”
“Never get your face that close when you’re waking a man up, Neal,” Rhett muttered as he moved to sit up. “One’a these days, you’re gonna get socked.”
“What, you’d punch me?”
“Not deliberately! But who knows? I might mistake you for a robber!”
“Typically,” Link said, standing and leaning against the wall, “robbers are careful not to wake you. Just for reference.”
“Okay, a ghost, then.”
“You can’t punch ghosts.”
“It ain’t a logical thing, it’s a reflex!”
“Okay, okay, point taken,” Link finally said, holding up his hands in mock defeat. “Anyway, you awake? We should have about three more hours of daylight and good weather.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay, I’m awake,” Rhett said, standing and stretching his stiff shoulders and back. “What’s the plan?”
“Dig out the wigs and the costumes and we’ll get the character shots together. I’m thinking a couple of us driving, maybe one of you on a bike?”
“Do I really have to wear the shorts?”
“What? Scared to show off a little leg?”
“No, I’m scared to show off a lot of leg. Did you see how short they are?”
“The ladies will love it, trust me,” Link said with a fierce grin and an eyebrow waggle. “Come on, bo, let’s do this.”
The rest of the afternoon and evening went by in a blur. They shot the extra footage they needed before they lost the light, and instead of going out for dinner, they opted for take-out pizza back at the hotel room so they could keep working. Again, Link commandeered the desk with the laptop, sitting with one leg curled up to his chest and the other stretched out all the way to the wall under the desk. Rhett lounged this way and that on the bed, frequently getting up to stretch and pace while they talked and worked. Each time he got close to the desk, he paused to lean over Link's shoulder and peer at the screen.
Perhaps the dozenth time he stopped to loom over Link, he was surprised to feel his shorter friend's head thump softly against his belly. Link was leaning back against him, eyes closed.
“We're never gonna be done with this, are we?” Link asked with a sigh.
Rhett caught himself lifting a hand, as if he was about to stroke Link's hair. He stared at his hand for a moment, frozen, before patting Link on the shoulder and swallowing in an effort to get his voice back.
“I think we're getting there, man,” he said, sounding steadier than he expected. “What do we got left? The jingle is all recorded, just need to fit it in. Add the text, run through and make sure the transitions are smooth, and we're good.”
Link nodded, his head rubbing against Rhett's stomach. “'m just so tired, man. Can't focus.”
Rhett breathed shallowly at the sensation, certain Link could hear his heart pounding though he gave no sign of it. He gently nudged Link forward before stepping away. “I'm gonna make some more coffee. That oughta pick you up.”
“Yeah, okay,” Link said with a yawn. “Think I need to get up for a minute, go take a walk or somethin’. Maybe check out the vending machine in the lobby. You want anything?”
“Wouldn't mind a snack. You got quarters?”
“Some,” Link said, standing up and digging in his pockets, coming out with a handful of loose change.
“Here,” Rhett said, pulling his own pocket change out to add to the pile in Link's hand. “Should be a couple dollars’ worth, at least. Get me a Snickers and some chips or whatever.”
“Sure,” Link said. He slipped the coins back into the pocket of his jeans and walked out into the hallway, closing the door behind himself.
Rhett took a deep breath, still not entirely rid of whatever feeling had come over him a minute ago. Protectiveness, he could sort of understand. He'd always felt that way about Link--figured it came with the territory, him being the taller and older of the two. Maybe that was all it was, he thought as he began brewing a fresh pot of mediocre hotel coffee. Just an unusual urge, then, stemming from his instinct to protect Link after a scary and stressful day. His mind flicked to the image of Link crying into his pillow in the throes of his nightmare earlier. He'd felt a similar urge then, but refused to consider it. Rhett set the coffee to run and sat down on the bed, leaning back on his hands and yawning. He was just tired, he decided. Thoughts get weird when you’re tired. That’s all.
After Link returned with their provisions, the editing seemed to go much quicker. It was shortly after midnight when they put the last few touches on the commercial. Link ran himself a hot shower while Rhett set the video up to render overnight and changed into his sleep pants. Link emerged from the bathroom, again in just his t-shirt and boxers, just as Rhett was settling himself on the bed. His hair was damp and messy, and as he approached the bed, Rhett could smell the cheap hotel soap and shampoo on him. Despite that, the scent still held something familiar, a distinctly Link smell, warm and clean.
“Probably should have passed on the coffee after all,” Link muttered as he crawled under the sheets. “Got that wired, jumpy feeling, you know?”
“I know you man, you’ll be out like a light in two minutes tops anyway.”
Link chuckled, “Fair enough, brother.”
“Just don’t wake me up with your caffeine jitters.”
“No promises.” Link curled up on his side, this time facing Rhett, and shut his eyes.
The bed was big enough, plenty of space between the two so that they wouldn’t have to touch at all during the night. Still, lying close enough to feel Link’s breath brush his arm in the twilit dark, it made Rhett’s skin tingle with the twin sensations of cozy and too intimate. With two cups of coffee buzzing through his bloodstream, he stared up at the ceiling and tried to will himself to sleep. It was a long time coming.
He’d been drifting in and out for a while, but the muffled scream next to his ear finally yanked Rhett out of his doze and into full consciousness. He gasped, sat partway up, and immediately looked down at the vague shadowed figure of Link beside him. He was struggling again, gripping tightly to the pillow beneath his head and burying his face against it while he shouted something unintelligible.
Another nightmare, Rhett knew immediately. Before he could think about it, his hand found Link’s back and began to gently rub slow circles between his friend’s shoulder blades as he spoke into the darkness.
“Link? It’s okay, man, you’re just having another bad dream.” Somewhere in the back of his mind, Rhett hoped that instead of waking him up, he could just soothe his friend back to sleep. Lord knew he needed it.
Link mumbled again, less intense this time. His hands were still like claws against the pillow, but his breathing was slowing.
“We’re safe, brother. Everything’s fine.” Rhett continued rubbing Link’s back, a little firmer now that he realized what he was doing. Not a caress, he scolded himself, just comforting, get him back to sleep quicker. Still, when he noticed Link shifting closer to him, whimpering in his sleep, he didn’t hesitate to pull the smaller man in. Rhett slid one arm carefully under Link’s pillow until it rested on his bicep with the weight of Link’s head settled into his shoulder. His other arm draped around Link’s back, a little lower this time, his hand still running slow circuits up and down the soft fabric of his friend’s t-shirt. The shirt had ridden up a bit in his sleep, and every few strokes, Rhett could feel the warm, smooth skin of Link’s lower back against his fingertips.
One of Link’s hands moved to Rhett’s chest, gripping at his shirt, but less viciously than he had been clinging to the pillow.
“It’s okay, bo,” Rhett murmured, “I’m right here.”
Slowly but surely, Rhett felt Link release his grip, his loose hand falling to rest against Rhett’s sternum. His breath settled too, steady and slow against the side of Rhett’s neck. Rhett looked down, confirming that Link was still fast asleep with a warm rush of satisfaction. His hand on Link’s back stilled but remained in place, fingers resting on the skin just below the hem of the t-shirt.
Part of Rhett wanted to pull away, now that Link was settled and calm again. Problem was, another, larger part of him wanted to stay. He could feel Link’s legs against his own, one knee pressed into his thigh while the other leg was tangled between Rhett’s, skin on skin where the lounge pants had ridden up to Rhett’s knees. He breathed slowly, registering all of the sensations of Link on him and around him.
It was nice.
It was more than nice. It felt like home.
He was nearly asleep again when he felt Link stir beneath his arm. The shorter man’s head turned and he looked up at Rhett with bleary eyes.
“Rhett? You awake?”
“Yes,” Rhett responded. He held his breath, waiting for Link to pull back or push him away. Instead, he felt his friend shift, tilting his head like a confused puppy.
“Why you huggin’ on me?”
“You had another nightmare,” Rhett said softly.
“Oh.” Link murmured. “Thanks, then.”
“S’okay.”
For several moments, they were still and quiet. Link’s eyes were closed again, and Rhett wondered if he had fallen back asleep.
“You gonna let go?” Link asked finally. Rhett thought he could hear some uncertainty in his voice, and hoped he was reading it correctly when he didn’t immediately pull away.
“Do you want me to?”
Link was silent for a moment before replying, “Not really. Do you want to?”
“No,” Rhett said. “You might have the nightmares again.”
“Okay,” Link murmured. He shifted a little against Rhett, settling his head more into the crook of his neck.
“Comfortable?” Rhett asked.
“Yeah. S’nice.”
“You should go back to sleep.”
Rhett saw Link’s lips curl up in a smile before he spoke. “Tryin’, if you would be quiet.”
Rhett snorted softly, and on a whim he bent his head down to press a kiss into Link’s hair. He felt his friend tense slightly in his arms and his breath caught in his throat, his mind screaming Why did you do that? But after a moment, Link relaxed again with a sigh.
“Rhett?”
“Yes?” he managed to croak.
“It’s okay.”
Rhett breathed out slowly. “Okay.” He felt Link’s body melt into sleep against him. Rhett closed his eyes and followed soon after.